Balochistan:
Police in Pakistan have exhumed the bodies of two women allegedly buried alive in western Balochistan province. They have also arrested six people, including some relatives of the women. Reports from the area say the women were killed in July because they wanted to marry men of their own choice, against the wishes of tribal elders. Three other women were also reported killed but police have not found their bodies. Human rights groups have expressed outrage at the killings. On Monday, Pakistan's Senate called for action to be taken against those responsible for what it called "brutal murders". Last week two senators caused uproar by suggesting that the killings were a matter of tribal tradition. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says in Pakistan's conservative countryside it is not uncommon for male relatives to kill women accused of violating family honour. But the brutality of the murders, and their unexpected defence in the senate, outraged many, our correspondent says.
Bodies 'dumped' Police who oversaw the exhumation of the bodies said the two women had bullet wounds and that they had been buried without a shroud. According to Baloch tribal custom, women killed for "dishonourable acts" are often buried without the white cotton wrap-around shroud.
The two bodies were dumped in the same ditch, police and local sources said. A senior police officer in Nasirabad district, Shabbir Ahmad Shaikh, told the BBC Urdu service on Monday night that the bodies were recovered from a grave 10km (six miles) from Babakot, the women's village. Sources in Dera Murad Jamali, the district headquarters, said the bodies were exhumed on Monday night in the presence of police and doctors. They said both girls had clearly been shot several times, but there was still no clear evidence of whether they had been buried while still alive. Police said they had arrested at least six people in connection with the murders, including close relatives of the deceased women. Reports last month said three women aged 18-20 from the Imrani tribe had run away from their homes in Babakot to get married. The women were kidnapped by some male relatives from a hotel in Usta Mohammad, in neighbouring Jafferabad district, where they had been hiding, the reports said. Two older women who tried to help the would-be brides were also allegedly kidnapped.
Some more Facts Several weeks ago armed tribesmen in Balochistan forced five women out of their village, shot and injured them, and buried them alive in the scrub.
According to the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the five were from the village of Babakot, about 80km from Usta Mohammad, the main city of Jaffarabad District, Balochistan Province.
Three of the women were teenagers. The other two were their mothers. The AHRC said wild animals had left the bodies half eaten.
They were killed because the girls had attempted to make their own choice in marriage, a right legally available in Pakistan to every adult, male or female.
"There is nothing in law that can prevent a woman over 18 making her own decision regarding marriage. That has been decided by the Supreme Court, and there is no ambiguity about this. But still, today, women continue to be killed in the name of the 'honour' of their families for making such decisions," said Naila Hassan, a Quetta-based lawyer.
Courtesy: BBC,IRIN
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